The Guild Master
by WhiteMoonxBlackSun
Summary: Unable to become a genin due to the civilian council after the Mizuki incident, Naruto launches himself into civilian work. Despite this status, the last Uzumaki, son of the 4th Hokage and the child of prophecy will shake the foundations of the ninja world. Based off of Naruto: Guild Master by IdeasMaker.
1. Chapter 1 Konoha:Change

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the idea for this story, which belong to their respective authors.

"Naruto Uzumaki has failed his latest academy graduation exam and thus cannot be considered a ninja in training."

The declaration rang in the meeting room of the Hokage tower: the civilian council smirked amongst themselves, the clan council seemed neutral on the outside but were a tad uneasy and the Sandaime was silent though one could tell that he was very displeased. The person in question stood facing the council, the boy of twelve being uncharacteristically quiet.

Naruto Uzumaki, the village's former number one most unpredictable ninja was now a civilian. This was mainly due to prejudice against the nine tailed fox that was currently sealed inside the boy. The Kyuubi had wrecked havoc in the village, killing many before the Yondaime managed to "kill" the demon. Though only the adults knew the truth of the situation, it did not stop the jinchuriki from being isolated and living a generally miserable life.

Despite this mistreatment and sabotage from others the boy held no grudge against the village instead vowing to earn their respect. Naruto could outrun ninja squads from chunin to jonin, even anbu level almost on a daily basis. The blond ninja-to-be somehow also managed to prank users of the Byakugan without being caught despite the bloodline's ability to allow the user to see 360 degrees around them. He even managed to find a way to fool trackers from the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. If it had been any one else, said person would have been praised and considered a future genius, sadly it was not to be.

"But I managed to successfully create clones! I used them to beat up Mizuki before he was about to kill Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.

This was in fact true, after his failure one of the academy instructors had told Naruto to steal the sealing scroll and learn a jutsu from it as part of a secret test in order to pass. Both parts were successful as the boy snuck the scroll out and within the span of a few hours learned the Shadow Clone jutsu, one that was forbidden due to the chakra cost of the technique, easily able to sap all the chakra of a normal ninja. Soon after there was a confrontation resulting in the injury of another academy instructor, Iruka and Naruto had used a baffling amount of clones to neutralize the threat.

"You should be executed for the theft, stealing a scroll full of dangerous jutsu." Koharu pronounced while Homura the other advisor nodded as well.

"The boy should be placed under my command. I am sure that he would have some use." Danzo said smoothly, the old warhawk itching to control the jnchuriki's power.

The room went silent as the killing intent of the Hokage washed over them.

"Need I remind everyone that Naruto aided in the capture of a traitor to the village despite the lack of official ninja status? We have more pressing matters to deal with, mainly the fact that the traitor has dealings with Orochimaru. In addition, since the council has stripped Naruto of his ninja status, you have no basis for your demand. Unless you are thinking of forcing a civilian to do things that ninja are not made to do."

Danzo grimaced at the information, while Naruto no longer had the protection of the Hokage, it also meant that he would be technically unable to forcibly recruit the boy into his organization.

In the end, Iruka was unable to pass Naruto due to the civilian requirements for the test and the Hokage was stopped by politics. Most of the civilians were still against him and Naruto was now in dire straits.

He had no resources to support himself with, as there would be no work for a young orphan boy, especially one with his reputation.

The meeting came to a close with the verdict as followed, which was summarized by the Hokage in a resigned voice.

"Naruto Uzumaki is now considered a civilian and will not be allowed to retake the academy exams. He is required to vacate his current apartment as soon as possible."

'_This is so unfair! How in the world am I going to survive? I was already on thin ice to begin with_.' Naruto raged inside his head, keeping his face as neutral as possible. He was irritated at the old man but knew at the same time that the council had too much power. He turned to the Sandaime and bowed.

"Hokage-sama, since the meeting is done I shall take my leave."

He turned and walked out of the room, ignoring the shocked silence that followed for various reasons. He had not used his usual nickname for the Hokage, he had not yelled but had simply left.

"I hope the council is proud of what they have done: destroyed a young boy's dream and possible sentenced him to death in a sense. He could have been great, but that has been nipped at the bud." The Hokage rose and exited as well, leaving the civilian and clan council to mull his words.

When the civilian council thought that the Hokage was out of earshot, one side of the room erupted into cheers.

"The demon child is finished!"

"Woohoo! No more problems!"

The clan council side face palmed at the stupidity. For once they were all in accord about something and that never usually happened.

"I never thought that I would find something more troublesome then my wife…" Shikaku Nara muttered shaking his head. His friends Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi nodded, understanding the implication of the statement.

"The civilian council has always been illogical, however this has breached a whole new level." Shibi Aburame added.

"As much as I hate the Kyuubi, I have to agree." Tsume Inzuka growled.

"You would think that they would eventually learn the difference between the child and the monster inside of him." Hiashi Hyuuga added.

In the end, there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation, however scathing it was that civilians could dictate how ninja affairs were handled. The clan heads silently left the room through varying methods, leaving the civilian council to celebrate their victory.

While this was occurring, Naruto had returned to his apartment after trying to ignore all the dirty looks directed at him as he walked.

'Well then, at least I got something out of this disaster. Somehow I think I have knowledge of my clan techniques.' Naruto then thought back to the moment he had stopped in a clearing with the scroll.

**Flashback**

"Okay so this scroll has to have something awesome in it for me to learn so I can pass and finally become a ninja."

Naruto muttered as he unfurled the scroll.

Suddenly the scenery shifted and he came face to face with a woman with red hair in twin buns and a white kimono.

Unknown to Naruto and likely the rest of the village, the forbidden scroll was in fact created by Mito Uzumaki to contain her clan's techniques, which would only appear on the scroll to members of said clan. Her husband, the Shodai Hokage also added his own techniques for future descendants. Only he forgot to label the scroll before his death so the reason for its creation was lost. When the Niidaime found the scroll containing his brother's strongest jutsu, he decided to add his own as well as the name Forbidden Scroll was coined. Since only Uzumaki clan members were able to access the clan techniques, knowledge of its existence was lost as time passed.

To make matters worse in a sense, the Uzumaki techniques were sealed and hidden in what was thought to be the patterns on the outside of the scroll. This would have distracted thieves, as they would open it only to find a blank scroll. In addition the sealing contained a part of the sealer's soul, which was the clan secret for passing on knowledge from one person to another. In this case, the leader's soul would judge and teach if the student was found worthy.

"Who are you?" He wildly looked around and added, "Where am I?"

"I am Mito Uzumaki, matriarch of the clan and since you are here, you are a descendent of the Uzumaki clan. As for your other question, we are currently inside your mind."

"Why is my head so empty?" Naruto looked confusedly.

"This is a kind of like a bubble of sorts where I will be imparting onto knowledge of our clan." Mito answered and then raised an eyebrow at Naruto's dumfounded expression.

The seals that made this possible also allowed Mito to see into Naruto's life up until this point and needless to say, she was not impressed.

"They forgot about the Uzumaki clan once the Kyuubi attacked, and treated you horribly due to an extremely biased point of view." Mito muttered, becoming increasingly annoyed.

The seal kept the knowledge out of the Konoha elders' hands as well as any thieves since their knowledge was very tightly guarded and therefore treated as a danger. Others assumed that the information was passed through word of mouth or via apprenticeship, which would explain why, little was known about the mysterious but dead clan.

"The knowledge that I am about to give you must be kept at all costs. No one and I mean no one will know of this understand?" Mito said and Naruto nodded his head.

"Clan secrets are secrets after all. Besides who would believe that I got the knowledge from a vision thing anyway? I swear to uphold this promise on my ninja way!" He gave Mito a thumbs up.

Mito returned the smile and poured the knowledge into Naruto's brain. Once the transfer was complete Naruto was jolted back to reality and without a moment's pause opened the scroll to learn a new jutsu and the rest is history.

**Flashback End**

When Naruto reached apartment, he quickly gathered his few belongings as angry civilians regularly invaded his house. He quickly learned to hide his belongings very effectively. After packing everything away he gave the apartment that had been his home for years one last look. It was in terrible condition, but it had been home.

'What am I going to now?' He thought, the possibilities were not appealing.

**'Kit, you're going to have to find a job of some sort'**

'Yeah I know Kurama, but I seriously doubt that will be easy.'

Due to Mizuki's declaration during the scroll fiasco, Naruto now knew about his tenant. During his meeting with Mito, the two had also visited the Kyuubi for the first time.

The meeting was interesting for the both of them.

**Flashback**

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The pair of Uzumaki's found themselves in a sewer, the walls made of pipes leading down a hallway of sorts.

"The inside of my mind if a sewer?" Naruto muttered as he followed the path.

"Well, considering past events, I am surprised that it isn't worse." Mito answered and elaborated when met with Naruto's raised eyebrow.

"Well I know for a fact that if I or your mother had been in this situation it would probably be full of corpses of our enemies, despite the fact that love is the key component of maintaining the seal strong. If you were not who you were, the seal could have been released already."

Naruto then came to a larger room with an extremely large iron gate at the end of the room with a single seal in front. The two walked over and whatever was behind the bars also came into view.

**"What brings my current and a previous container here?"** The voice of the kyuubi rumbled.

"Just checking the state of the seal and to see how you have been faring."

Naruto managed to keep quiet but Mito noticed his confusion.

"How much do you know about the kyuubi Naruto?"

"Well, there was the story about how the Yondaime killed the demon which isn't true since the fox is right there and that's about it. Oh and that everyone hates on him through me." He rubbed his head sheepishly.

The fox snorted, **"One would think that after a while, those civilians would realize that there is a difference between warden and prisoner. Too bad no one seems to know that I only ravaged the village after being under the control of a Sharingan technique."**

Naruto's eyes grew to the size of saucer's at the information. "So you're not as evil as everyone says?"

**"If I was, you would not be alive. It is thanks to me inside your gut that you survived the majority of those beatings from the villagers. You did realize that your healing factor is abnormal."**

Naruto grinned, "Thanks a lot Kurama!" and added "What?" when met with silence.

**"You do realize that I am the reason you get beaten in the first place right?"** Kurama was confused, **"You are very strange."**

"Hey I take offence to that!" Naruto pointed accusingly at the fox.

Mito giggled, "Looks like you two will get along just fine. Despite not having any help, Naruto you turned out be a great jinchuriki."

"Hey Mito, since this is inside my mind, would I be able to change the scenery?" Naruto asked and Mito nodded.

So Naruto focused and the surroundings distorted into a grassy plain, the iron gates and seal transforming into a collar of sorts. The boy grinned at his success.

Both Mito and Kurama were surprised at the change. Seeing their expressions Naruto said, "Its thanks for keeping me alive, besides hundreds of years inside a cell has got to be boring as hell."

Kurama savored the feeling of grass under his paws and the breeze.

**"I considered attacking you, but I am glad I decided against it since you had no choice in the matter of housing me."**

"Meh, at least if you attacked it would les painful since it would probably be a one hit kill." Naruto said as Mito giggled.

"You are a definitely strange boy but I am glad that you have a new perspective on Kurama."

**"Kit, since you are now aware of me, we can talk through thought."**

"Kit?" Naruto parroted and Mito explained the meaning of the word.

"Hey! I am not little!" He yelled at the fox.

**"You are compared to me."**

The trio had some more conversation and it went pretty well. Naruto explained to the Kurama about what had happened with the civilian council. Kurama snorted and stated that the ignorance and stupidity of the masses had not changed.

**Flashback End**

Due to the sealing scroll fiasco, Naruto had learned Shadow Clone jutsu, gained information on his clan techniques and was now on good terms with Kurama. There was definitely an advantage to having a voice in our head that had centuries of knowledge.

Since he was the last Uzumaki, he would have to find his own way through life like his ancestors had before him. He surveyed his options: he could not reapply to the academy for obvious reasons, he had failed his first attempt and to further waste time and resources was out of the question for the village. Therefore, Naruto had to find some form of employment to support basic needs.

The village and council would celebrate their success for now, but the consequences of not allowing Naruto to become a ninja would have severe repercussions in the future.


	2. Chapter 2 Konoha: First Seal

Well, checked and suddenly I have more favorite/followers than any other story I have written so far… for my first chapter of this story… and after a couple of hours hours have passed…more than 100 views… (Read: extremely surprised at turn of events)

I am extremely thankful for the support and hope to fulfill reader's expectations.

**Bankai777**: *rubs head sheepishly* There are so many characters to keep track of… But since you mentioned it, ideas have invaded my mind and therefore, somehow I will try to incorporate these two in the story *nice person pose complete with dazzling smile*

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the idea for this story, which belong to their respective authors.

Naruto Uzumaki wandered the streets of Konoha seeking stable employment since the loss of ninja status also meant that the Hokage was unable to help him in pretty much any way, shape or form. The devious civilian council had a number of ways to indirectly crush the boy since he was considered a piece of filth, a source of corruption that needed to be stamped out of their great village. However they had to tread lightly as the Hokage was very displeased (read: furious) with their actions, the civilian council shuddered to think what would happen if the Hokage found them out.

"I am in so much trouble." Naruto groaned and Kurama added his two-cents, **"It will only get worse kit."**

Naruto grumbled something about pessimistic foxes under his breath.

The truth of the matter was that unless he found a job soon, he would starve and die in an alleyway or be forced to leave the village altogether. This was in fact what the council had planned from the moment the supposed demon had been kicked out of the orphanage years ago.

The plan had been derailed when the Hokage stepped in but now everything was back at square one and the civilian council patted themselves on the back for depriving the boy any power at all as a ninja. The paranoia that had been sowed since the kyuubi's attack about a decade ago was sated with the fact that the plan was rolling along smoothly, all that was left was to do was wait.

Unfortunately, the council severely underestimated Naruto's determination, aided by the genes from both his mother and father. He was currently in dire economical straits, as being unable to attend the academy also meant that he received no funds.

"I don't really have too many options for a job…"

**"What about working at that ramen stand you always frequent?"**

"No, Ayame and Old man Teuchi are some of the few that treat me nicely, I can not risk their livelihood, but I refuse to give up. I will find a job by the end of the day!"

With newfound determination burning in his veins he set off to find a job. Very quickly, Naruto confirmed his scarce options; he could barely walk through the entrance before insults and the occasional object were thrown at him.

"Leave demon, we have nothing to sell to you!"

"Hire you? Fat change!"

"Get out before I make you!"

The shopkeepers did not even have to open their mouths; Naruto could see the blatant animosity in their eyes. After spending a couple hours wandering around unsuccessfully, he ended up in front of a weapons shop.

"Well I may not be ninja, but looking around for a few minutes would not hurt. Maybe I will find something I could wield as a mercenary or hunting for food." His thoughts buoyed, he entered the shop. In the end he would undoubtedly need a weapon of some sort and thankfully there were no laws that forbid a civilian from carrying one.

The last Uzumaki flitted around the shop and ended up browsing the sealing tags with increasing fascination.

'_Strange, I have a sense of deja-vu. It's like I've seen these symbols before.'_

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as the shopkeeper walked over.

"Good day young man, would you like some assistance?"

Said young man was surprised and pleased that the man was at least indifferent to his presence in comparison to the other stores he had tried to enter. This allowed a heated discussion concerning sealing to occur soon after.

The owner of the shop was not a seal maker but had some knowledge of the art. It was in poor taste to supply ninja with fake tools or seal tags. A business needed trust and reputation to flourish; therefore the shopkeeper knew enough to be able to distinguish a genuine seal.

"Seals are like jutsu, only using fixed strokes with brush and ink to replace hand seals. It is extremely important that the proportions are correct for every stroke to make the seal effective. Similar to how ninja hand seals shape chakra for a jutsu to be successful." The man explained to Naruto.

"So based on what you said, sealing should be able to replicate or even replace hand seals."

The owner was baffled, "That is definitely true, why hasn't anyone else thought of it before?"

The idea seemed sound in theory and application but no satisfactory answer was conceived.

"Must be because people think 'why should one use sealing tags to do something a ninja can do without them'?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, deep in thought and responded.

"I can think of multiple scenarios where seals would be effective though. For example, an exhausted ninja would still be able put up a fight with strategic use of seals. Or one ninja could pull off multiple jutsu at the same time which would be impossible if they only relied on hand signs."

The man was impressed with Naruto's ideas and wondered what the young blond would think up next.

The shopkeeper had recognized the boy, as he was infamous in the village due to the numerous pranks he pulled. An ex-ninja he felt the boy's treatment by the council was injust and firmly believed that Konoha had lost a person with high potential. He was determined to help the boy in some way; the boy had made a good first impression.

Naruto was not considered a ninja but he knew what he was talking about when it came to seals so the man wanted to give the boy a chance.

He thought back to his younger days with his grandfather.

"Listen here Dustin, the Uzumaki's were a clan famous for their abilities in sealing. They had determination and with it, could pull of feats that could be considered miracles."

Dustin Higurashi, also Tenten's father had only met one Uzumaki in his life so far, the young boy that he was currently having a discussion with. He was amazed with the ideas for new seals that spewed from the boy's mind. They seemed plausible and useful but just had not been created yet. The feelings of interest and awe was also amplified as sealing was one of the lesser known techniques in the ninja world since the Uzumaki clan was gone along with their secrets.

Before he could continue the conversation, a voice was heard from the door.

"Father! I'm home! I passed the test to become a genin too!"

Naruto stiffened as he recognized the voice of a former classmate. Tenten had been in his class when he had attempted the academy graduation test. He fervently hoped that she was not too hostile towards him.

"Hey Tenten, congratulations I knew you could do it!" Dustin gave his daughter a hug as he said the words.

She wore her brown hair in the usual twin bun style with her chinese style clothing.

"Naruto? Didn't think I would meet you here."

"Hey Tenten-san." Naruto said in greeting and Tenten walked right up to his face.

"Don't call me –san, it makes me feel super old!"

"Uh okay then Tenten-chan?" He said warily, hoping that it would diffuse the situation. Tenten smiled and Naruto relaxed and backed away.

"So dad, what were you talking to Naruto about?"

Naruto was very glad that Tenten was like her father regarding him. She had been one of the neutral people in his class, he hadn't talked to her but she had not done anything to him.

"Oh yeah, I was wondering if you would want to make seals for me, provided that they work and are at a certain quality?"

Naruto thought back to when he first laid eyes on the seals, which seemed to spark a memory of a conversation with Mito. This occurred because the Uzumaki Clan Soul Seal was designed to transfer a large mass of information and techniques within a short time. The Uzumaki matriarch would pass on information in the span of minutes to hours depending on the mind in question. The seal acted similar to a dream in the sub-conscious since under normal circumstances, the brain was unable to assimilate the vast amount of knowledge.

Therefore the information was left in the sub-conscious to called upon later, stored like an archive that would be accessed when the receiver remembers something due to event trigger of some sort.

In this particular case, the sealing tags triggered information retrieval. Naruto would not be unable to access all the information at once, but slowly and gradually which also aided in the process of mastering sealing. The application also promoted the ideal of hard work since only those who actively seek knowledge would gain it.

"That sounds great! I was thinking of going into the business in the future."

The shopkeeper disappeared into a storeroom and reappeared with some sealing supplies.

"Here you go. I don't need any payment it is gift for you. Think of it as an investment for the future. I believe that you will be successful, besides my grandfather had told me stories about the great Uzumakis. Come by again and I will tell them to you."

Thanks to Dustin's words, Naruto received incentive to believe again as well as a supporting friend in him and his daughter.

"We'll give you supplies if you make the tags, deal?" The girl had asked.

Naruto nodded in agreement and exclaimed over his shoulder, "Thanks a lot, I will make sure to blow you two away!"

Dustin as his daughter shared a look, "I hope he meant that figuratively, he is making explosive tags after all."

"Tenten, is it true that Naruto was kicked out of the ninja program?"

Tenten nodded her head, "Yeah, he didn't manage to create a clone for the final test. Though I heard something about him beating up a chunin later that day."

The shopkeeper was positive that the civilian council was to blame for the turn of events. Fortunately, the council had no hold on him as his wares catered more towards ninja though he did have the occasional normal customer. His shop was one of few that were not fully controlled by either side whether ninja or civilian.

Naruto went into the forest near one of the training areas for some privacy and sat down.

"Okay so I need to start small."

**"No better place then explosive tags then."** Kurama added, the tags were simple and very commonly used by ninja.

"Okay, so take the brush, some ink and a tag. Draw some symbols in the correct order while channeling chakra. Well I have some chakra control from the academy, hopefully it is enough." Naruto prepared and carefully started to draw.

The symbols came to him rather naturally and after a few days and some test runs, which had hopefully been discreet, he returned to the shop to show Dustin and Tenten.

The two had accompanied Naruto to a training field for a live test of the completed product. The boy offered a tag to Tenten who placed the tag and moved a safe distance away before channeling chakra and activating it.

After the explosion, the dust cleared and the two's jaws dropped. The hole was twice as large compared to the firepower of a typical explosive tag.

Naruto faced with expressions that all but demanded some form of explanation spoke, "The tags that I made seem to be more durable and flexible."

He shrugged his shoulders and continued, "The size of the blast is dependent on the amount of chakra that is channeled into it. Once I used a shadow clone during a test run and accidently used too much, the clone got caught in the explosion."

He paused to look at the hole, "I think it was at least twice the size of that?"

More shocked silence followed for multiple reasons: one was the fact that the explosions could vary size in the first place and the second was that the blond could use shadow clones which were notorious for chakra usage.

"You must have ridiculous chakra reserves to use that jutsu." Dustin said and Tenten nodded her head in agreement.

Needless to say, the tags immediately went on sale and drew the interest of many ninja. There were a couple demonstrations for the more skeptical, but that tags were the real deal.

When the trio returned to the store after the first demo, Dustin took a closer look at the tag as saw that there was a label that appeared when chakra was added.

"Oh that's a method to hide the identity of the creator." Naruto explained as he pointed at the UZU marking.

"It also doubles as a way of proving that it is an authentic seal made by me." He pointed at himself in pride.

Tenten was very surprised at learning about a side of her classmate that she had never known. She also questioned the council's decision in forbidding the boy from becoming a ninja.

'_No doubt about it, that boy is definitely special. I bet my life on it._' Dustin thought as he watched the boy that would eventually shake the foundations of the elemental nations.


	3. Chapter 3 Omake: The Unbreakble Sunset

One evening Naruto was training as usual when he heard approaching footsteps. He stopped and leapt into the bushes for cover, not wanting to explain his presence to anyone.

Seconds later a green spandex clad duo entered the training area.

'_What are those two doing here?'_ Naruto thought, he did not know there names but the two were memorable due to matching clothes and thick eyebrows.

"My youthful student Lee, that was an extremely youthful display of your flames of youth! Your powers of youth have erupted forth!" The older of the duo proclaimed.

The younger, now known as Lee responded passionately with, "Thank you Guy-sensei! I will continue to fan my flames of youth to display the power of youth!"

"Yosh my youthful student, let us train our youthful selves together! I shall run around Konohana 300 times to start!" Guy-sensei fist pumped the air.

"Then I shall join you in your youthful endeavor sensei then run some more on my hands!" Lee exclaimed.

"Lee"

"Guy-sensei"

"LEE"

"GUY-SENSEI"

"**LEE**"

"**GUY-SENSEI**"

The two ninja embraced one another with a background of a breath-taking sunset complete with crashing waves.

Poor Naruto caught the full brunt of the image, which he later learned was named the Unbreakable Sunset Genjutsu.

The blond was knocked unconscious due to the display.

In Naruto's mindscape, Kurama was lounging on the grass when Naruto suddenly appeared. He was curled in a fetal position looking shell-shocked and muttering under his breath.

**"Kit…? What happened? Are you okay?"** Needless to say, the fox demon was very confused. This was the first time that he had seen his container in this state. He tried prodding the boy but he was unresponsive.

Kurama shrugged his shoulders and decided to wait for Naruto to return to normal. It would take an hour in the mindscape, the equivalent of a couple of minutes in the real world before Naruto could retell what he had witnessed.

**"That sounded pretty rough. Kind of glad I am in here right now."** Kurama sweatdropped and patted the jinchuriki's back.

Naruto bounced back quickly and gave a smile that could have rivaled famed torture specialist Anko Mitarashi.

"What would happen if I captured the effect using a pair of henged shadow clones and a seal tag?"

Elsewhere, numerous people felt a chill go down their spines and had a suspicious feeling that somewhere; something horrible was about to be unleashed upon the world.


	4. Chapter 4 Konoha: Pranks

Chapter 4 Konoha: Pranks

Naruto's explosive tags were selling very well since he had stable income; living expenses were no longer a problem.

**'Now you can afford something other then ramen.'** Kurama teased his container.

'Hey, ramen is delicious but I have more choices, despite the fact that I could still get cheated for groceries.'

Ironic that his living standards would improve when he became a civilian and lost the protection of the Hokage. Though could it be considered protection? Since the council had enough power to essentially veto his decisions.

Naruto continued along until he reached the weapon shop and walked in.

"Hey Dustin! How is it going?"

The shopkeeper turned to face his tag supplier, "Everything is great. Though it would probably be a smart idea to develop something new. You never know what could happen in the future."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement and added the task to a mental checklist; ideas were already starting to appear. He had already improved all of Dustin's available tags, making them more functional and therefore more flexible. Naruto ducked out of site as some customers entered the store.

"Yoh Dustin! Have anything new for sale?"

Dustin gestured towards the seals, "See for yourself."

Recently, his store had become much more popular as ninjas of all ranks had come to see the tags that had shaken the ninja side of Konoha.

"Here's one I haven't seen yet. I wonder what it does?" One of the customers pondered and another laughed.

"Each one is always a surprise. I still remember that one time I almost got caught in my own explosion."

The customers bought a few seals to test out and exited the store in excitement. Though not all ninjas used tags, it is a smart idea to check out what is available to create counter measures. In addition, the tags were like a mysterious firework, people wanted to use one just to find out the effect.

"Guess the tags were a successful business venture?" Naruto asked Dustin as he stepped out from the shadows.

A few days later Naruto returned to run a new proposition for the weapon shop owner.

"It crossed my mind during a brainstorm session and my pranking experiences."

The budding seal master had created a non-lethal version of an explosive tag by swapping out the sealing paper with regular paper.

"I used shadow clones to safely test ideas. Most were useless to a ninja but I found another use for them."

With a flourish he brought out harmless paint tags, which were cheap and easy to produce due to his usage of shadow clones.

"After experimenting, I found a way to convert chakra to colors. Since they are only made from paper, they're cheap to make and fun to use." Naruto grinned as he finished speaking.

Now Dustin's shop also catered to the village children since the tags were within their budgets. Regular ninja could also use them as training aids for exercises.

One day, the Hokage made a surprise visit to the store accompanied by Iruka one of the academy instructors.

"So this is the store that has been selling those new tags?" The Sandaime murmured as he glanced around. Dustin introduced himself and asked for the reason of the visit.

"I was thinking of ordering a shipment of the tags for use in the academy."

Dustin was ecstatic that Naruto had given him more business and agreed to the deal while making a mental note to ask him for a new shipment. The shopkeeper also knew that very soon, Naruto would add more upgrades to the tags but it was a business tactic to sell something that was about to be replaced by an upgraded version.

"Leave it me!" Naruto had exclaimed when asked for the job and future upgrades.

True to his word, a couple of months later Naruto introduced a premium version that emulated the effects of an explosion without the injury. This was done through the use of wind and sound seals creating the equivalent of an explosive tag.

"These would be perfect for advanced training exercises for jonin and anbu ninja." The Hokage said as he ordered a batch that was happily paid for.

At the same time, Naruto catered to the needs of the village children, the paint tags selling like hot cakes since Konoha was a ninja village. Children could use them since they were harmless. The tags were used primarily for pranks and ninja games that he recognized from his younger days. Due to rise in popularity Naruto made a seal stamp for mass production purposes.

**'About time, I was getting sick of seeing you draw the same set of symbols for the thousandth time.'** The biju grumbled, since he too enjoyed seeing what the blond created.

As his designs grew more complex and with new discoveries Naruto started to add paint and other markings to his seals. Undoubtedly a tactic against plagiarism, though due to his Uzumaki heritage, not even seal expert Jiraiya of the Sanin would be able to duplicate his creations.

Miles away, a pervert peeking at the women's bathhouse sneezed. The action gave his position and he was attacked with a flurry of wooden buckets and angry women.

Any seal that he makes would end more potent than one created by any other because he added chakra to the seal as it was made. The added durability also allowed him to safely camouflage his tags with additional markings.

'_Now I can sell the tags while still keeping my promise to Mito by hiding the Uzumaki secrets.'_

**'I swear, one of these days, you'll find a way to unseal me that doesn't involve the death of either party.'** Kurama thought aloud.

'That sounds like a plan.'

Naruto had been thinking of finding a way to so and was bolstered with his tenant's support.

**'…..' **The silence was a bit uncomfortable for the blond.

'What's with the silence?'

Kurama sighed and pondered the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki.

'Well, actually it should a partial freedom. Something like temporarily outside the seal so that whatever happened before won't be repeated.'

Kurama was very touched by the thought, though he would never openly admit the fact. He did have a reputation to maintain despite the fact that his container was the only one who could currently hear him.

Naruto's determination in his quest for knowledge continued. His next creations were new trap tags he had dubbed Shock and Earth Spear which used different conversion and arrangement seals. Now ninja had to be wary of sudden electrocution or springing a barrage of earthen projectiles. In addition, both could be used offensively and defensively, increasing their usefulness. Naruto even managed to add new features such as delayed execution timer or sensor trigger.

So the budding seal master continued his studies, which meant that once in a while new tags or new variations of tags surfaced in the village of Konoha. Obviously, Dustin's weapon shop became very well known in the ninja community. Ninja of all ages and ranks would come visit to find tags for use or to find out what their opponents could now do. In field duty, it was always helpful to know what an enemy was capable of.

To ninjas that had even the slightest knowledge of sealing, there was a sense of fascination towards the mystery person that thought of these ingenious ideas. This was easily explained by the fact that the new seals made the previous ones seem ancient in comparison.

Popularity bred curiosity and soon many were gossiping and discussing the unknown seal maker that was part of the company known as UZU. Even now, Konoha had no idea who was supplying the tags for Dustin's shop.

At the moment, a group of people were talking about the subject in a nearby café.

"Maybe it belongs to a retired ninja." One person guessed.

"It could be a genius noble that's also rich." Another added.

For some reason, nobility was associated with popularity, which held true towards public opinion of the prestigious Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. Despite the curiosity towards the tags, there was no investigation of UZU, which meant that no one knew that only Konoha had them. As long as the shop owner did not say anything out the ordinary, people felt it was normal.

Once the Hokage had asked, "Do you know where these tags came from?"

Dustin answered with, "I got a shipment from the merchants and they bring more when supplies are available."

The Sandaime did not ask anymore questions as he, as leader of the village was too busy to investigate everything that occurred inside its walls. In any case, the effect was positive, his ninjas became more durable so he had nothing to complain about.

Another change to the weapon shop was the addition of a children's section. The harmless tags were available for sale in addition to mini-ninja kits.

Dustin glanced warily yet curiously at the new products.

'I wonder what that kid will think up next…if it's anything like what he's done so far a storm is coming.'

As if some power from high above had been listening to the man's thoughts, an interesting event occurred.

Someone had been brought to ANBU headquarters. Later on people found out it had been a kid that had bought one of the child ninja kits from Higurashi's store. The kid had been sneaking around the village, likely pretending to be a cool ninja. However, that in conjunction with his clothing made alarm bells ring in some ninja's minds.

"Hey what's the big idea? I was in the middle of playing ninja outside?!"

The ruffled child complained from his chair. His kit had been confiscated and Ibiki was currently looking over it.

'At first glance, it seems exactly like a real ninja kit.'

Indeed one of the few other differences was the material; it was not as durable since the clothing was geared towards children.

"Bring the kid back to where you found him. Next time make sure that you don't jump to conclusions."

The masked jounin grabbed the kid and left the building. Ibiki had to applaud the maker of the kit, even he had been fooled for a bit. He also experienced another of Higurashi's new products. Numerous ninja had been gossiping about the versatility of the new UZU seals.

ANBU training had been upgraded with the use of the premium fake explosive tags. Despite the cost, the ninja were much more prepared against traps and other seals so Ibiki did not fault the Hokage's choice.

Meanwhile back in village, a group of children were talking excitedly.

"So you went into ANBU headquarters?"

"What was it like in their? I heard that the walls are lined with weapons and trophies."

The kid in question puffed up proudly and talked about his experience.

The event turned out to be a big topic amongst the adult villagers as well. Since, a normal civilian being brought to the headquarters usually ended in endless nightmares and trauma for the rest of their life. However, the kid seemed to have the opposite reaction; seeming giddy and excited. Apparently it had been scary at first, but that quickly gave way to awe as he had been the first kid to ever get inside the building. He became a hero to the other kids.

Children were usually not taken seriously while playing ninja, however since one of them had been taken seriously, they were all hyped up. Once one learned where the kit he had used came from, more children entered the store to buy one of the kid ninja kits.

This caused more headaches to the ninja since there were now even more of them running around using the kit. To their horror, Naruto had upgraded some of the kits, adding a camouflage seal. This allowed them to more easily blend in with the surroundings, the seal imitating a rather unnoticeable illusory effect.

Evidently, the occurrence was brought up a number of times at council discussions.

"We should ban imports to stop Higurashi from selling any more of the UZU products!" One member exclaimed, and a few others echoed his sentiments.

Due to appearance of the UZU brand, the other ninja stores in Konoha had been losing customers to Higurashi's weapon store. The storeowners had complained to the council in hope of getting rid of the competition or getting the contracts for themselves.

In the end, their plan failed and they only had themselves to blame, even if at the time the civilians had no idea.

According to Dustin, "A number of shops made a bad impression on the UZU representative. When they had done a round of the stores, they decided to allow his store to sell the tags and other products."

Upon further probing, the man added that the representative had been in the village the day after the genin graduation.

The civilians remembered that day when the demon child came around seeking employment followed by them kicking him out. They had smirked when the market had glared at the child, preening at putting it in its place.

Dustin laughed internally as he watched the council's expressions; they would not be able to voice any of their actions for various reasons.

The civilian council may have won the round against Naruto, but it had forever left a scar in the room during meetings.

Whenever anything to do with the boy was brought up, the Hokage would explode with killing intent. This was not good for the council's health, the last fool to do so was taken away by Ibiki and not seen since.

The civilian council had finally learned to steer conversation away from the topic. Hence, the people swiftly changed topic once he asked about their behavior on that particular day. Since getting the products is out of the question, instead they will try to ensure that the products do not get more buyers.

"The UZU products leave a mess in the village." One person cried.

"Sure they may be useful, but they're also very dangerous. Maybe too dangerous in fact."

Evidence was shown from blown up training fields from UZU tags and various pranks done by the village children. A number of areas had been painted fluorescent colors as well as some unlucky people.

"I cannot punish a distributor for what the buyers and users of products do. In addition, I am sure that some of the pranksters include your own offspring."

If the ban is applied, then everyone would know who had authorized it, since it would be obvious that they supported the verdict.

"Besides, I do not want my grandson and his friends to hate me for taking away his games. I believe that your children would feel the same?"

The Hokage asked serenely while smoking his pipe.

The ninja clan side had opposite feelings towards the new products. They recognized the more practical aspects of the so-called toys; training aids. The items were good copies of the real deal only made with more common (inexpensive) material. The products also added as passive advertising, to encourage more children to join the academy and start ninja training.

To that end, the ninja clans had encouraged their children to have/buy a set from the store. The parents had been skeptical when they had first come out, but changed their mind after hearing that a kid using the kit had been brought to ANBU headquarters mistaken as an enemy ninja.

"The similarities are uncanny. This is even more practical than the real thing." One ninja had noted when he had bought one and compared the standard ninja equipment side by side.

The children thought the pockets were neat, since they could carry more stuff, but the ninja had a few extra ideas.

One set had looked overly complicated to the eye; some dismissed it as a joke item. The Nara had taken a closer look at the clothing.

"This has a seal to camouflage the wearer by emulating whatever is nearby. Hiding in plain sight."

No one it seemed had thought of a way to make camouflage without specific jutsus. Now they just needed to be able to channel the chakra into the seals inside the vest.

Everyone thought that UZU was a massive company filled with genius employees to think up and implement these revolutionary ideas.

The ban was not placed and the council agreed that victims could hire genin in order to clean up the mess. This resulted in an increase in D-rank missions, making the Hokage pleased with the outcome. The ninja clans had no issue since they had security, it would help to see who did their jobs properly. The clans had funds and security could clean up their own messes if need be.

The council had no chance as from the beginning it had been them against their children. Never had they felt so powerless, though they did not think too deeply and chalked it up to coincidence. UZU products continued to sell and eventually dominate the Konoha market unimpeded.

"Naruto, good job on anticipating the council."

The boy shrugged, "I knew they would eventually try and force themselves in."

Naruto had a pretty good read on the council. In this way, he made sure his benefactor and business partner could stand on his own while Naruto continues to make profit in the village.

He had managed to inject himself into the market with products that would cause outcry if banned, especially amongst the children. The unintentionally acted as a barrier for the council, one they could not easily disperse.

'The civilian council and the merchants are corrupt, they always find ways to make their own purses fatter.'

Since he had left the ninja force, Naruto had essentially disappeared from view. He aims to keep the anonymity since it saves him the trouble of facing the council who would ask questions that he would not answer.


End file.
